Easy & Heavenly Gluten Free Popovers!

This is Owen's favorite gluten free bread product that I make for him. He feels neglected if I don't make it for him often! So, I try to make a batch every couple of weeks to keep my special man feeling extra special!

Easy & Heavenly Gluten Free Popovers

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
3 Tbsp melted butter
1-1/4 cup lukewarm milk
3/4 cup Jules Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degree F
Grease a 6 cup popover pan
Put all ingredients in a blender/food processor & blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. You may need to scrape the edges & blend again quickly.
Preheat the popover pan for 5 minutes (Caution the pan will be hot when taken from oven!! Use potholders!) 
Fill each cup 2/3 full
Bake for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degree F & bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the popovers reach a deep golden brown & have risen over the top of the pan cups.

We love these right out of the oven (but they are just as good cold or reheated). I mix softened butter with honey & spread it on the warm, fresh popovers!! Enjoy!!

Garnier Olia Hair Coloring & Life with Gracie

In an earlier post I mentioned that I was trying Garnier Olia hair coloring through BZZ Agent. I told you how much I loved the rich color & how much it looked professional but did I mention the shine or how much it could rival the salon coloring? You will have to try this for your self & experience the rich colors & shine to understand what I am saying. You may give up your salon coloring! (Seriously!) (OK, the photo is not one of my best for face, but look at the color & the shine of my hair! That's all that matters for this post) This hair coloring could have cost $30.00 at a salon! At least that much!<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/olia.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=4071602637&Campaign=8240009424&Uid=1229577&token=b8a010c04bc2be35a69e6e7c71712a08" alt=""/>

Other than the awesome Olia, we are still hanging in there with Gracie the now 4 & 1/2 month old German Shepherd puppy. Being major cat people, this has been an adventure to say the least! I have shared the frustrations of her chasing our boys (4 adult male cats), which they HATE!! We have been taking her to puppy training once a week. The other puppies are 6 months & 8 months (2) & Gracie has surpassed them all to the point where the class has had two extra days to catch up to Gracie's level! Can you believe that? OK, she performs magnificently in class, but there are times at home that we are at a loss of what to do! All in all I think we chose the right dog for us, very smart & hopefully a great protector. It has been almost 3 months since we adopted her. We love her dearly & are hoping someday that the cats & Gracie can all live together happily without sounding like a hissing convention.

Life on 3/13/2013

Today was a "stay home & get things done" kind of day. Owen took off the carpeting from our stairway; he had painted the stairway last weekend & the roller pole snapped, the roller landed on many stairs. The carpeting on the stairs was an off white. The new paint is a lime green, enough said! We purchased new carpeting & pad & have an installer coming on Tuesday. Carpeting is a difficult project so we have decided to hire someone to get it done fast & properly installed.
I have been trying out a few more BzzAgent campaigns. One of which is a hair coloring kit from Garnier called Olia. I LOVE the Garnier Olia! It is just as wonderful as I had imagined! The shine is amazing, probably the best shine I have had from a home color kit. And the color is so natural looking. Olia is an oil based hair coloring, so it is not drying or damaging. There was no horrible smell like some coloring kits have. All in all I was very pleased with the results! I highly recommend this product!
The other product I sampled through BzzAgent is Cafe Escapes K-cups coffee for the Keurig. The flavors were Milk & Dark Hot Cocoa, Cafe Vanilla, Cafe Caramel, Cafe Mocha & Chai Latte. I loved the flavors, they were all unique in their own ways. The Dark Hot Cocoa & the Cafe Mocha had similar flavors, but a slight difference. I think I liked the Cafe Caramel the most of all the flavors. BUT, for me all of the flavors were very sweet, which I am sure is great for most people, but I just do not like to have too much sweetness. That being said, most people I have spoken with have enjoyed them & did not find them too sweet.<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/cafeEscapes.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=5454718464&Campaign=9622084068&Uid=1229577&token=cf9023549bb890429a5d15fa5abb857b" alt=""/>
Well, the Catholic Church has their new Pope! May God bless him & his followers dearly, I know this is very important right now!

My Skin Renewal & Updates

For the past week I have been using Garnier Skin Renewal Dark Spot Overnight Peel. I received the product through BzzAgent, an awesome site that allows you to participate in product trials & you in turn spread the word about the product you are testing through your social networks & word of mouth.
I am still in the testing process, so I will keep updating as I see changes in my dark spots. I can actually see some of the spots disappearing, so I hope to see more each day I use it! <img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/darkSpot.png?Type=activity&Activity=1292521100&Campaign=9247878483&Uid=1229577&token=cb63a3d6dffe63903ffd3ac87bb97cce" alt=""/>
Gracie is now almost 4 months & is getting more enjoyable as time goes on! We have been working on leash training, come & stay. We taught her to sit when we first adopted her 2 months ago, so she is ahead of puppy class in a few ways! You can see how much she has changed!

Some of you may not know that Owen & I are completely gluten free & have been for over 6-7 years. We were gluten free before it was all the rage! We were gluten free when the bread resembled cardboard in taste & texture and the pasta was very chewy! Now, GF bread is like regular, GF pasta is just as wonderful as regular pasta & so many companies have jumped in on the gluten free bandwagon! I am going to be posting some awesome gluten free recipes & GF products we LOVE!!

Crowdtap Verizon Windows8X Party

Last evening I hosted a Crowdtap Verizon Windows8X Party at our local 50's Drive-In/Diner. I had invited over 79 people through word of mouth, email & Facebook. 21 responded with either Yes or Maybe. 3 people showed up. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I really believed by renting out the Drive-In, offering refreshments & appetizers & the Pinterest Challenge that we would have more than enough people for a great party! I trusted some people to be there for me & they weren't, I am not sure why, maybe the weather because the day before we had a major snowstorm. I just feel bad for the time, effort, money & letting Crowdtap & Verizon down for not having a great attendance.
They all loved the phone! There were so many features that had them in awe, such as the Local Scout & Microsoft Office linked with the Sky Drive. Those were the two favorite.
That being said, those who were there had a wonderful time! We all simply LOVED the Pinterest challenge! The challenge actually helped bring 2 guys into Pinterest, which both had never tried before. They really got into pinning special photos & enjoyed each grouping of photo choices. I was actually very glad that I was able to present each of the guests who participated a Verizon Gift bag. The gift bag consisted of a great Verizon Tumbler with an awesome swirly straw, a Verizon USB jump drive & a wonderful set of glass photo coasters. They were all so thrilled with the gifts, it made the lack of guests feel a bit better to me.
I had such high hopes, my weeks of planning, my dreams of how the party would be a tremendous success, really hit hard. I once had a Margarita party & SO many people showed up, it was crazy! So, as one of the friends who did show up said, maybe if I were to serve Margarita's we would have a huge group! Something to think about!

I cannot even believe how much a dog grows in it's first 3-4 months. Gracie has over doubled in size since we first brought her home on January 11th.
Our 4 male cats have figured her out & are no longer afraid of her, now the tables have turned & they have taken to chasing her! The first two weeks with Gracie & introducing her to the cats was like a room full of rattlesnakes & rocking chairs....all you hear is hissing! I much prefer the way it is now & I know it is going to be better each & every day. I am looking forward to the day when I can post a photo of one of the cats sleeping with Gracie! That will be a beautiful day!
Today Gracie has started digging up dirt in our yard.....this is not good! I am not sure what she is digging for, but we need to find out how to stop this or our yard will be destroyed. Plus, she is muddy by the time she walks through the house, I can only imagine what spring is going to be like with a HUGE German Shepherd!! Oh well, we have non carpeted flooring, it should be easy enough to clean up!

Here are photos of Gracie, the first is week one when she was 8 weeks & the second was a few days ago - at 3 months, you can really see how her legs have grown!

A Sunday to do nothing!!

After a busy week traveling to Milwaukee for business, attending my parents 60th wedding anniversary party in St Cloud on Saturday, it is nice to be in my jammies & lounging around our house watching the cooking channel!

Gracie is getting so big! She gained 10 pounds in one week!! I was shocked! But the highlight of my week, besides gathering together with my family, seeing Kobi become the strong, non-fearful cat I knew he was! He has NO fear of Gracie anymore, what-so-ever! We have had Gracie for a month now & she is indeed our precious little girl.

The anniversary party brought all of my siblings together, it is rare that all 5 of us can be at the same gathering, so this was wonderful. We took advantage of the moment & took some great family photos.